DHARMA
Essays, recorded talks and teachings from Roshi Jundo Cohen and the teachers and priests at Treeleaf Sangha
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Just Sitting and Being With Serious Health Issues
talks & essays Kojitsu Williams, Treeleaf Unsui To live with serious illness such as dialysis-dependent kidney failure, heart disease, and pulmonary embolism (blood clots in the lungs) is not simply…
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Bowing to the Harm Doer
talks & essays Roshi Jundo Cohen Sometimes I am asked why, in some of our ceremonies such as Jukai (Undertaking the Precepts) we bow to our parents even if, in…
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How to Stop Time
talks & essays Roshi Jundo Cohen I will now teach you how to stop time, halting right in its tracks the rush of passing time from yesterday to today to…
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223 – Precepts, Not Politics
talks & essays Roshi Jundo Cohen In our Sangha, we believe in upholding the Precepts and our Bodhisattva Vows to save suffering sentient beings, but we avoid debate and discussions…
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Enchantment in this Modern World
talks & essays Roshi Jundo Cohen I read in a Buddhist scholar’s commentary that many modern folks in the West are “disenchanted” about life, much more than people 5000, 500…
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Zen and the Art of Swimming
talks & essays Roshi Jundo Cohen Sometimes I reach for analogies to express this Zen way. Today, as the weather warms, I turn to swimming … Imagine this world as…
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Here, There, Everywhere
talks & essays Roshi Jundo Cohen As a young man, in search of “true Zen,” Master Dogen made the dangerous journey to China, experiencing great sea storms and illness along…
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223: Revolution in the Ten Directions
talks & essays Roshi Jundo Cohen We need a revolutionary movement of left wing, right wing and center together. Yes, it sounds impossible, even counter-intuitive. How can so many different…
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223: Good Karma for Change
talks & essays Roshi Jundo Cohen In the face of so many, seemingly insurmountable problems in society, in our families, friendships and other relationships, Karma is a sword of change…
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223: A Buddhist Resistance-NON-Resistance Movement
talks & essays Roshi Jundo Cohen The following is not about politics as such, but it is about fighting (better, “non-fighting“) for a better world, and a more just, less…
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“Nothing to Do” is Not “Wallowing in Thoughts”
talks & essays Roshi Jundo Cohen Jan 27, 2025 I have heard some folks misunderstand the “Nothing to Attain, Nothing in Need of Doing” of Shikantaza Zazen as meaning we “just sit…
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“Nothing to Attain,” a Doorless Doorway to Great Enlightenment
talks & essays Roshi Jundo Cohen Jan 22, 2025 I have heard some folks recently criticizing Soto Zen practice (including a Rinzai priest who should know better) because our emphasis…
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How Zen Solves ALL Your Problems!
talks & essays Roshi Jundo Cohen Jan 17, 2025 In recent weeks, I have been speaking with Dharma Friends and Sangha Members who are struggling with a variety of health,…
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Liberation and the Hard World
talks & essays Roshi Jundo Cohen Jan 10, 2025 As I write these words, fires, earthquakes and wars are raging, children around the world are hungry and in danger, refugees…